And, no matter whom you believe, it seems clear to me this Texas HOA cannot be said to have been on the cutting edge of what is a growing residential solar revolution.

In fact, only some Flower Mound residents will realistically be able to go solar thanks to a rule the HOA has created which does not allow the installation of panels on a front-side of a house. If Cherry Creek HOA had this rule, we would not be able to go solar as it would force the installation of panels on the north-facing side of our home.

You simply cannot install panels on the north-side of a home. Such an installation is completely inefficient. Indeed, we would be ineligible for Xcel Energy’s Solar Rewards Rebate if our HOA had the discriminatory rule Flower Mound has written into its updated code. That’s because a north-facing solar installation would fall below the 90% efficiency rate Xcel requires for residential systems to be rebate eligible.

If your HOA rejects your application and you do not live in a U.S. state with a Solar Access Law, don’t despair, you have public opinion on your side.

So, Flower Mound is, in my view, taking two steps forward in allowing some solar installations, and one giant, extremely unfair step back in disallowing front-side home solar installations.

But while Flower Mound HOA board members seem to be backward thinking on solar, apparently most Flower Mound’s residents are not — a full 69% of those surveyed by the HOA said they support allowing homeowners to install solar systems on their roofs.

The moral of our story — and the Flower Mound, Texas homeowner’s story — is multi-pronged:

a) Your HOA might well be a progressive one, such as ours, and will quickly approve your application to go solar. Ours was approved within four days of it being submitted and we even got the following comment from the Chair of the Cherry Creek HOA Architectural Design Committee: “We think what you’re doing is great!”
b) If your HOA is not progressive and rejects your application, you might have state law on your side (see the State Solar Access Laws graphic below this story);
c) If your HOA rejects your application and you do not live in a U.S. state with a Solar Access Law, don’t despair, you have public opinion on your side — you also have the simple fact of a growing residential solar revolution in the U.S. on your side, meaning so many homeowners are going solar, and are going to be going solar in the next five years, that HOAs won’t be able to stop the tidal wave of solar; so, leverage this to your advantage and work to change backward HOA thinking and regulations — and if you need help publicizing your case, we’re happy to work with you.

About The Author

Christof Demont-Heinrich is founder, creator and editor of SolarChargedDriving.Com, which he launched in September 2009. A journalism professor at the University of Denver (DU), Demont-Heinrich is a lifelong environmentalist who loves to bird, hike, camp, and bike. As passionate as he is about the environment -- and about promoting the synergy between solar power and electric cars, he is equally passionate about writing.